Fragmented Souls
by CerapinTech
Summary: The forces of light and dark must remain in balance, but a new enemy tries to change that. With Lance dead, Keith joins them to try and fix everything, even if it destroys him in the process. Dark!Keith but not really. Meanwhile, the team is down a Paladin and Shiro tries to fix things too, but the others don't want a new Paladin.
1. 00

**A/N: **Welp! New fic new fandom, am I right? Here's the start of a whopper I've had in the works for a few months now. And I have to admit, Voltron has basically taken over my life at this point. NO REGRETS!

* * *

Prologue

The sky was dim and the air was thick. Keith breathed heavily, blood dripping from everything. Very little of it was his. It clung to his blade, his dark Marmora armour, and his boots as they splashed through puddles left by the enemy.

Keith limped to where Lance lay. A clear line separated where he lay and where _they_ had been slaughtered. Not a single Galran soldier remained standing. Keith made sure that Lance's blood wouldn't be the only blood that soaked the ground.

He sat heavily beside Lance's now pale and cold body and noted duly that the blood no longer poured from his neck. He reached out and gently slid his arms around Lance's shoulders and pulled the corpse into his lap. He cupped the back of Lance's head and raised it to burry his face into the tussle of soft brown hair and let his silent tears finally fall.

The icy cold rage was gone, unleashed on the Galra. Now he just felt empty. He didn't know how long he stayed there, the only living thing among a hoard of corpses, but he had no drive to leave. After all, Lance was dead. So why was _he_ still alive?

"Such a tragedy."

A foreign voice sliced through the silence. In an instant, the blood-slicked luxite blade was inches from the speaker's throat.

"Peace," the stranger held up his hands placidly, but Keith's blade did not waver as he took in this stranger dressed in a long gray robe with a hood that cast a skull-like mask into shadow. Floating at each of his shoulders was an orb of energy, one white and one black.

"Do you want to die too?" Keith asked, his voice no more than a hoarse whisper.

"Death is inevitable," the stranger responded, "made all the more tragic when one's time comes before it was meant to."

"I don't care for cryptic bull shit right now. Either fuck off or die."

"If only there was a way to resurrect the dead," the stranger continued on as if he hadn't been interrupted.

Keith's blade moved, because he'd meant what he'd said, but where it should have connected and cleaved through flesh, it only passed through air.

"In this day and age," the stranger's voice came from behind him and Keith whipped around to where the stranger had appeared, again continuing as if he hadn't been interrupted. "It is considered nothing more than a legend. But you especially should know that legends aren't always mere stories, Paladin."

Keith froze, realizing that this . . . creature, knew who he was, or at least who he had been. "What are you talking about?"

"Didn't I already say?" the stranger turned to him and Keith couldn't help but see the dark robes and maniacal glint of grinning teeth within the hood's shadow. He couldn't help but affiliate him with the Grim Reaper. "I'm talking about a cure for death."

Keith's fists tightened around Lance and he unconsciously pulled him closer.

"Your grief is great and its not everyday you see such a thing. He must mean a great deal to you."

Keith's eyes fell to the unmoving form that he cradled, and a fresh set of tears bubbled up.

"He's like a brother to me." The words came out no more than a whisper.

"Hm," the stranger hummed. "I've seen soul mates grieve less than you do for your brother. Your bond must be great, indeed. So I will offer you a deal."

"A deal?"

"If you help me and become my apprentice, I will return your brother's life to you."

Now Keith really couldn't breath.


	2. 01

Chapter 1

"You're still up?" Shiro stepped onto the bridge and Allura was startled at the sound of his voice. She quickly regained her composure.

"I could ask you the same thing." She didn't turn around from her terminal where she had various screens lit up around her.

Shiro didn't respond and joined her up on the pedestal. He scanned the screens, but they said the same thing they had been saying for months now. It didn't surprise him. And honestly, he was starting to doubt that they would ever say otherwise, even though it was slowly killing him inside.

[PALADIN NOT FOUND]

Lance was gone. Slipped out of the Castle in the middle of the night as they were passing through a star cluster. The Castle lost his signal before they even knew he was gone. They had all thought he just needed some space, some time to cope after the mission on planet Nepra. That Pidge would stop giving him the cold shoulder after what had happened. They all assumed he would be back with his easy smile and corny jokes and reassuring them that everything was going to be okay . . .

That wasn't what happened.

It's hard to look for one person in the vastness of the universe. So many planets, galaxies, asteroid outposts, space stations . . . He could be anywhere. There was also the possibility that the Galra had managed to capture him, but no amount of hacking their enemy's system or interrogating high ranking officials could confirmed this. It was hard to tell if that was a good thing or not, but they never stopped searching.

The Castle always seemed a little too quiet now-a-days.

"How are Pidge and Hunk faring?" Allura suddenly broke the silence.

Shiro grimaced. "They're still not talking to me."

Allura's gaze fell. "You can't blame them."

"I don't," Shiro said. "But I had to do what was best for the team. We're fighting a war and we _still_ can't get in contact with Keith . . . we were down a Paladin."

"I know," Allura clenched her hands into fists at her side. "Egal is a good Paladin, but it still feels like we're just replacing Lance."

Shiro had nothing to say to that. He couldn't deny that he felt the same way, but Egal deserved better than that.

They had come across the plant-based warrior about a month ago at a trading hub planet. Egal was some sort of apprentice with one of the traders that they bought some rather large parts from. Coran had insisted they needed some do-hicky or other for something no one quite understood about the Castle, and the do-hickey ended up being multiple do-hickys that were quite large. It would take more than one trip to haul it all to the Castle and Egal agreed to help.

Long story short, there was a Galra attack, they were locked down and separated, and Egal got chased into the Red Lions hanger where Egal found the Red Bayard which transformed into a set of pistols with wicked blades that stretched out of the back. Egan then proceeded to take out just about every sentry single-handedly. That's when the Red Lion lowered her barrier. It was the first sign of life the Lion had showed ever since Lance left. The Red Lion had chosen another Paladin.

Suffice to say, the others hadn't taken it too well.

That wasn't to say that there wasn't a day that they weren't still actively looking for Lance. Every available scanner and processor had been rigged into the scan. Pidge had thrown herself fully into it. It was worse than when she was looking for her family . . . probably because she felt that it was her fault he left in the first place.

Shiro and Allura stood side by side, watching the search protocol flash by the screen far too fast for any person to actually read.

All at once the silence was shattered by the proximity alarm. The screens went red, flashing brightly and the alarm shrilling and echoing down the halls of the Castle. Shiro knew that sound all too well. Danger.

"What is it?" Shiro asked, the gloom shoved to the side in place of adrenaline. His eyes darted from screen to screen trying to piece together the threat.

"Something is approaching," Allura's hands flew across the console as she tried to isolate it. "It's small . . . and fast!" The search protocol was swiped away, pushed aside and she pulled up a visual. The expanse of space appeared on the screen, but there was no ship in sight.

"Are you sure there's something there?" Shiro shouted over the alarm. The radar flashed angrily, outlining what was almost less than a spec that was still approaching.

"Positive. It's incredibly small . . . I've never seen something this tiny traveling so fast before."

"Princess!" Coran barged in. "What's happening?! The alarms are going off."

"I noticed," Allura grimaced. "The sensors have picked up something heading straight for us, but—"

"By god," Coran's eyes went wide in recognition as he saw the readings. The tiny blip encroached upon the Castle. There was nothing they could do. It was too fast.

"It's right on top of us!" Shiro yelled, looking out the front window to see if he could catch sight of it.

"Brace for impact!" Allura yelled, gripping the console. Shiro braced. Coran gaped.

But nothing happened. The alarm cut off and the lights stopped flashing. For a moment everything was silent. Coran continued to stare out the window, which is why only he noticed the small flash of light that came _through_ the reinforced plexiglass that made up the Castle's viewing port.

"By Alaara," he breathed as the light took the form of a young woman.

"What are we waiting for?" she whispered to him. Shiro and Allura jumped and spun to the new person who had appeared on the bridge.

Shiro was the first to react, lowering into a defensive crouch as his hand started to glow. "Who are you? How did you get in here!?" he demanded. The intruder looked like a young woman, humanoid in appearance with long, yellow hair and dressed elegant white robes. In all honesty, just paint some markings under her eyes and she could easily pass as Altean.

"Oh, _I_ know who you are," the young woman smiled knowingly. "You must be the _Black_ Paladin. So up tight. Loosen up."

"Wha. . ." Shiro was speechless, completely thrown off by this regal-looking woman with the casual words and wasn't sure if he was being complimented or insulted.

"It _is_ you!" Coran said in awe.

"Coran?" Allura asked, not taking her eyes off the intruder. "You know this person?"  
"Well I'd hardly call her a person," Coran sputtered. "And if she's here it can't mean anything good."

"Oh, I remember you too!" The young woman smiled knowingly at Coran. "Interesting that you're still around."

"Yes, well," Coran cleared his throat and looked away, "a lot has happened these last ten thousand deba-pheobs."

"As it usually does," she nodded.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Allura stepped forward, "but I think some introductions are in order."

"Ah, yes, my apologies," Coran stumbled over his words and whisked a hand out to the strange woman. "Princess, Shiro, this is Lux. The universes Guardian of Light."

Shiro's eyebrows rose comically. "The what now?"

**Oo-oO**

Pidge sat in front of her computer, trying to configure her processors and compress the influx of information in order to filter through more data that seemed to be endless in the search. She'd been working on this for vargas and she was overdue for a break, but that would entail getting up and walking somewhere and she . . . wasn't quite up for that yet.

She massaged her thigh and cracked her neck before leaning back in her seat and staring up at the ceiling. Her mind inevitably began wandering to unpleasant things until she felt the sting of tears prick her eyes. She wiped at them angrily and swore under her breath.

She had the most reason to be mad at the idiot. And she _was_ mad at him. No one could blame her for that. But it made her even madder when just he up and peaced out like that, as if that would solve anything, and he hadn't even had the nerve to stay in contact!

There's no way anything bad happened to that happy-go-lucky idiot. It was impossible. Anything he got into was probably his own fault—not that he was getting into anything to begin with. Because Lance is an idiot. But_ god damnit_, he should be here and since he's not that means that something _did _happen . . . or he's just being more stubborn than usual.

And then _Keith_ had to go AWOL too on some dumbass Blade mission that they wouldn't tell them anything about other than it's 'Top Secret' and that Keith'll be gone for an 'undetermined amount of time'.

"Quiznack," she dragged her hands down her face.

The team was falling apart.

Then Shiro decided to try and fix things.

But it only made them worse.

The so-called _new Paladin_ had been with them just under a month now and while Pidge could admit that he—no not he—they? _I__t—_was a decent fighter, able to hold their own and a half decent pilot at that, she refused to acknowledge them as part of the team. Like hell. What will Lance say when he comes back? If he finds out they replaced him he probably _won't_ come back. And that scares her even more. How was she supposed to yell at him if he never came back?

"_Quiznack!_" She sniffed loudly and rubbed at the tears in her eyes again.

Then to top everything off, the proximity alert started blaring and her a headache flared up again. She groaned and let her forehead slam onto the desk in frustration. She slid the chair back and almost stood up before changing her mind and clenching her fist into her pant leg in frustration.

The alarm shut off just as she opened a video channel with the bridge. The holo-screen popped up and she saw Allura and Shiro there along with Coran and . . . who's that.

"What's going on?" she asked, drawing everyone's attention.

The stranger cocked her head as she gazed at her through the monitor.

"Pidge," Shiro said, glancing at the woman uncertainly who stared intently at Pidge. "I think we may have a new mission. Get up here as quickly as you can."

"Uh, right," Pidge acknowledged Shiro and gave the woman a weird look before hanging up and grumbling as she slowly lifted herself up onto her feet.

By the time she'd made her way all the way to the bridge everyone else was already up there, even the new Paladin. Egal stood near the door, well out of the way and already wearing the Red Paladin armour. _Keith's_ armour. She grit her teeth and held back her comment as she did every time the plant-based alien wore it. Instead she gave her 'team-mate' a wide birth and managed to settle into her station, waving off Hunk's helping hand and spinning to face everyone.

"Alright," she said once she'd settled. "What's this all about? And who is that? And how did they get on board?" To looked to the woman in white.

"I am known as Lux," the young woman introduced herself. "To many I am the Guardian of Light."

"And to the rest?" Pidge raised an eyebrow.

"The rest don't know me," Lux smirked.

"Really?" Pidge said dully.

"Moving on," Shiro tried steering the conversation back on track.

"Right!" Coran spoke up. "I suppose I should start by explaining how I know of Lux."

"Wait, you know her?" Hunk questioned.

"Yes," Coran twisted his moustache and smiled proudly. "It was back in King Alfor's time. One of the enemies that the Paladins of old went up against was seeking to unlock the power of dark energy."

"Umbra," Lux chimed in, a darker undertone lingering in her voice.

"Yes, that was the chaps name," Coran nodded.

"Umbra seeks to control the darkness. While I am the Guardian of Light, there is a Guardian of Darkness, known as Tenebris," Lux waved her hand and the light in the room seemed to warp. She guided the light and painted illusions of Light and Darkness, two being of opposite natures existing side-by-side. "Together we keep the balance between these two elements throughout the universe. Light cannot exist without darkness and the darkness means nothing if there is no light."

"Classic Ying and Yang," Shiro chimed in.

"Oh, I know that one," Lux said. "That's one of those human religions, right?"

"You know what humans are?" Pidge asked.

"I know a great number of things," Lux waved her arms about. "Where the light touches, I see. Where the light learns, so I know. The same applies to Tenebris. The Dark is his domain. But the darkness isn't as evil as people make it out to be."

Lux brought the Dark body toward her, cradling it delicately as the Light dissipated.

"You see," she continued. "The dark is quite innocent if you stop to think about it. It accepts anyone and everything into its embrace. It's not the Dark's fault that some seek to use its shadows to hide and commit terrible acts. It's scoffed and scorned, judged and betrayed. The darkness has done nothing wrong but will still accept anyone who seeks its shelter."

"Well that's . . . one way of looking at it," Hunk said with a raised eyebrow.

"One such villain who takes advantage of the Dark is Umbra," Lux's voice turned cold and a shiver brushed through the room. Lux let the Dark being go as a red ooze faded into existence and started surrounding the Dark, suffocating the Dark, but the Dark sheltered the ooze. "Tenebris, like the darkness, is like a naïve child, willing to accept anyone. He revealed many secrets, too many, to this villain, and now Umbra has the knowledge to steal the dark away from Tenebris."

The Darkness took the ooze in, and the ooze shattered the Darkness, stealing its power for itself until the ooze had its own form with specs of black coursing through it.

"Um, that's a bad thing, right? That sounds like a bad thing," Hunk babbled.

"It is very bad," Coran stepped in. "It started ten thousand years ago when Umbra tried to perform the ritual that would bind Tenebris and direct his power to Umbra. In order to perform this ritual, five Relics of pure quintessence are needed and with the help of Voltron, the Paladins of old were able to hide all the Relics in secret locations throughout the universe. Then in a final epic battle, they banished Umbra to a pocket dimension."

Lux's light illusions depicted the event. The darkened red ooze warping into the form of a tall figure wrapped in a dark cloak with a skull for a face. The figure then stood before twin alters and five balls of coloured light spun around them, depicting the ritual. Suddenly the Lions flew in, disrupting the cloaked figure. The red ooze spilled from under the cloak. Voltron was formed and the ooze was banished into a wormhole in space.

"And what a great day that was," Lux tilted her head and stared into the distance. The Lions split off and danced around the room. The red ooze nothing more than a bad dream. "The only thing I regret was not being able to free Tenebris from Umbra's complete control. Even now, Tenebris sleeps, still weakened even after ten thousand deca-pheobs."

"And the fact that you're back now?" Shiro asked, already knowing the answer.

"Where the light shines, I see," Lux repeated. "Where the light learns, I know. And I know that Umbra has broken free of his prison and seeks to restart the ritual."

"Do you know where he is now?" Allura asked.

"Umbra is a shadow, traveling in the darkness, hiding like a coward behind an Apprentice. I cannot see into the dark."

"So that's a no," Shiro sighed. "And I suppose that if this Umbra character manages to pull off this, uh, _ritual _that bad stuff will happen?"

"He will destroy the balance of Light and Darkness in the universe," Lux stated. "And without balance, the darkness will infect everything like a virus until all life has been wiped out."

The Lions continued to fly around the room, coming to rest next to their designated Paladins. Hunk tried poking at the Yellow Lion, but it was only an illusion created by light. Pidge also passed her hand through the Green Lion, watching as the light cast shadows over her hand.

Shiro rubbed his brow. "Then I guess our next move should be in securing these relics and making sure Umbra can never get to them."

"If I remember correctly," Coran turned to the console and tapped away for a tick before activating the holographic map of the universe. A few more key-strokes and five coloured points appeared on the map. "Yes, the coordinates where the Paladins of old hid all the Relics were retained within the Castle of Lions."

"Colour coded," Pidge noted. "Nice."

"Alright," Shiro nodded and turned back to Lux who was playing with the Blue Lion. "Do you know a way of sealing these Relics for good? Or even destroying them?"

"They are not mere objects that can be destroyed," Lux said, meeting his eye. The Blue Lion flew off to rest on Allura's shoulder. "They are symbols of power capable of containing even the gods themselves."

"Oh," Shiro squeaked weakly, then cleared his voice. "Alright then, what do you propose we do then?"

"The best way to stop the ritual from happening is to destroy the one who seeks to perform it," Lux said with a steely voice. Simultaneously, all of Lux's illusions blinked out of existence. Hunk let out a disappointed 'aw' and pouted at the loss of his little friend. "But since we cannot locate him, if we seek out the Relics, we are bound to come across him. When he reveals himself to the light, then _I_ will personally stop him."

"Then let's not waste any time," Allura stepped onto her platform. "Coran, plot a course for the nearest Relic. Paladins, suit up."


	3. 02

Chapter 2

**oOo Five Months Ago oOo**

_Keith pulled his hood up as he pushed open the swinging doors of the bar. He'd managed to track the single passenger ship to some backwater moon that orbited an abandoned planet. There wasn't much living in the system other than this small outpost for folks who were just passing through, or the other type of folk who are up to no good._

_ His Marmora face mask filtered the polluted air of the bar, but he could still smell the smoke and filth. The room was dimly lit, and only a few patrons populated the scattered tables. Keith slid up on a stool by the counter and watched as the bar tender did some fancy bottle flips while mixing an equally fancy drink for a pretty space girl who giggled at his easy smile. The bar tender himself had dark, almost black skin and the top half of his face was hidden behind a swirling blue mask. _

_ He kept smiling at the space girl who twiddled her fingers at him, as he came over to help Keith, only to pause when he noticed Keith's mask. "You know that's not the best uniform to be wearing if you're trying to go unnoticed," he commented and started twirling his bottles again. He began making something for Keith without asking for his order. _

_ Keith furrowed his eyebrows at the sound of the bar tenders voice. So the guy was familiar with the Blade of Marmora . . . Then maybe he could be of some help. "I'm looking for someone," Keith spoke up a little louder than he usually would. The full-faced mask and rebreather tended to muffle his voice. "He would have passed through here a couple of quintants ago. Was flying a Model X8-20."_

_ The barkeep paused in his theatrics, face going carefully blank before answering. "Get a lot of people passing through here and lots of people looking for folks. What's so special about this guy? He do something worthy of being chased by the likes of you?"_

The likes of you? _Keith bristled at the bartender's words and narrowed his eyes at him. If he looked past the fancy blue mask, he could make out familiar blue eyes. "He ran away when his team needed him," Keith watched and saw when the man flinched ever so slightly. _Oh.

_ "Sounds like a real dick." The barkeep slid the drink over to Keith. It was something dark red and smoky looking. Keith eyed the glass for a moment and sighed as he took it, fingers curling around the glass a little tighter than they should. He normally wouldn't accept drinks from strangers, even if they were behind the counter. Then again, wasn't exactly a stranger now was it?_

_Keith retracted his mask. "No, just an idiot." His voice rang out unmuffled by the mask's filtration and the barkeep's eyes snapped up to meet his own. He stared open-mouthed at Keith, who only looked back with an impassive stare, seeing through the black face paint and the swirling blue mask. _

_Keith lifted the glass up to his lips and raised his eyebrows. "It's been a while, Lance."_

…

**oOo Present oOo**

Keith jerked out of the memory and back into reality. He cursed as he sat up on the table and rubbed at his temple where a headache was forming. Delving into the astral plane will do that to you. He'd gotten better at it these last few months, but it was still hard to navigate, especially when you're going through someone else's mind. Especially when said person doesn't want you in there. And especially when said person wasn't even technically alive.

Keith stared solemnly at where Lance's body lay on the alter opposite of the table where he sat. Lance was bathed in the blue light of rejuvenation, eyes closed and chest still. His face was slack and emotionless. This wasn't how Lance was supposed to look. Lance was supposed to be bright and smiling and getting on his nerves and never. . .

Lance wasn't supposed to be this still and quiet.

But, after what Lance had pulled, Keith couldn't help but wonder if that easy smile was real or just a mask to hide a greater darkness eating away inside him. He didn't know. He hadn't had a chance to ask. Couldn't convince him to come back to the Castle with him. Couldn't _be there for him. _Because . . . because Keith thought that if he left the team and joined the Blades then Lance wouldn't keep feeling like an extra.

_One Paladin too many._

_Leave the math to Pidge._

Keith left. And for the last five months, he's been regretting it.

In that time, the stranger he made the devil's deal with had taught him about many things, most important of all was bringing the dead back to life. It wasn't as easy or dark as Keith had originally assumed. There was no demons or blood sacrifices, no mass gore and half rotting corpses. Just a soul and quintessence. That's all that was needed.

The soul is what Keith had spent the last few months obtaining. When a person dies, their soul breaks into pieces, then those pieces scatter throughout the universe before returning to the flow quintessence. It's a process that can take many deca-pheobes to complete. Before that can happen, if one could piece the soul back together then it is possible to transmute the soul back into its original body and bring the person back to life.

Umbra taught him how to hone in on any one person's soul and track the fragments through the universe. The things that Keith learned, honestly he couldn't compare it to anything other than magic. With concentration, he could open his eyes and see the colours of people's souls and the lines of universal energy that Allura and other Altean's called quintessence. He learned how to take that energy and create a barrier to contain soul fragments and prevent them from returning the universes flow. Even that was just scratching the surface of what Umbra could teach him, but Keith was hesitant.

He shuddered as he remembered the Galran magicians he had fought against before. The Druids had been powerful and the magic that Keith could now perform was very much like theirs. It felt wrong and Keith could feel it eating away at his own soul each time he used it. Slowly corrupting him, turning his heart black . . . But it was all for Lance, so he'd do it again and again until there was nothing left of himself.

The sheer number of pieces that Lance's soul had broken into had been overwhelming. There were so many. It took so much time, too long. And now he was close. _So close_.

All the fragments of Lance's soul that he'd collected hovered above Lance's body in a small spherical barrier meant to contain them and prevent their decay, just as the alter was keeping Lance's lifeless body from doing the same.

"Any progress in navigating his memories?" Umbra's soft voice asked. Keith raised his head from where it hung to greet Umbra who had literally appeared out of no where. Keith was no longer startled by his teacher's sudden visits and appearances.

"Just the same flashbacks," Keith hung his head again and rested his elbows on his knees.

"It is to be expected," Umbra came to stand by Lance's alter and Keith watched him from behind his bangs. "His soul is still incomplete. Any thoughts will be sporadic and splintered. But though it is admirable of you to keep trying, your time would be better spent retrieving the last pieces sooner rather then later."

"I know that," Keith snapped and looked away. Truth is, he knows exactly where the last few fragments of Lance's soul are. But . . . he's not ready to face that just yet.

"Peace," Umbra raised his hand in a placating gesture, his dark robes flowing like rippling waters, and Keith felt his shoulders slump. "In any case, I have not come to berate you on your choice of hobbies."

"Then what is it?"

"I have located the first Relic."

That had Keith's attention. The Five Relics were the second thing needed to bring Lance back to life. The representations of the five pure elements in quintessential form; fire, water, earth, forest and sky. "Where?"

"On a small planet, mostly covered by ocean with a few scattered islands," Umbra waved his hand in the air and a hologram of an island dominated by a giant mountain appeared. The most striking feature was the giant tree growing at the top of the mountain. "The Relic of Fire is somewhere on this island. It's your job to find it and secure it before Lux can seal it."

"Lux?" Keith asked. "But I thought she couldn't interfere directly with the universe? The same way you can't."

"She can't," Umbra replied. "But like myself, she has found agents to do her bidding for her. The powers of light and darkness would wreak havoc on the universe without the proper balance, but that problem doesn't exist if you get someone else to do it."

Keith hummed and stood, "So I'll have some competition. Good to know."

Umbra reached out for Keith's hand. "I'll program the coordinates into your portal generator." Keith held out his arm and Umbra's hand glowed with energy as he infused the information into his gauntlet. "You are to leave immediately."

"Right," Keith gripped the gauntlet, adjusting it and feeling the small warmth it emitted after the programing. It was one of the gadgets Umbra had given him. It allowed him to open a portal to the coordinates programed into it, much like how Allura's worm holes worked. It was also the only way to return to the base—the only way to return to Lance.

He pulled up his hood and activated his mask, an off-white plate that looked eerily like a skull. "Are you sure I'm ready?" His voice muffled.

"You are more than ready," Umbra comforted with his soft voice. "You have been for some time. It is your own hesitation that has held you back. You fear for what will happen when this is all over but refuse to consider the possibilities."

"_I get it_," Keith snapped. "I don't need you in my head. I know what I have to do. And I'll do it, no matter the consequences."

"I know you will," Umbra said with a creepy smile. "That is why I chose _you_."

"Just make sure you keep up your end of the deal," Keith growled and activated the portal generator. A dark swirling portal opened beneath his feet and Keith fell through.

**Oo-oO**

Dry leaves crunched under his feet as Keith fell into a crouch on the other side of the portal. The sound of rushing water filled his ears as Keith stepped into the sunlight. He took stock of his surroundings and the late autumn forest that surrounded him. Almost all the trees had lost their leaves and a chilly wind kicked them up as it whisked around the trees.

Off to the side, a large river ran off the side of a cliff and spilled into a great, expansive ocean. Keith scanned the horizon but couldn't make out any other land masses in sight. Turning back around his eyes trailed along the river that led all the way to the base of the mountain.

He took a moment to close his eyes and focus. He felt the magic, the quintessence, rise to respond to him. He felt it tug at his soul, tainting it ever so slightly with each use. Then he opened his eyes to a world of vibrant colours. The green of the trees, the yellow heughs of the rocks, the blue waters splashing behind him, and there at the top of the mountain was the bright, fiery red light that outshone them all. The Fire Relic was before him.

"Alright," Keith told himself, taking a deep breath. "Go time."


	4. 03

Egal is a Paladin of Voltron. It's like a dream come true! On Egal's planet, stories of Voltron were told to the young sprouts about how Voltron saved those in need and the Paladins were heroes for all . . . Except now that Egal has met the Paladins, the Paladins don't seem much like heroes anymore.

It's already been about a phoebe since Egal joined the Paladins as the pilot the Red Lion and in that time, Egal hasn't once felt like Egal truly belonged. Shiro, of course, tries to tell Egal that the others just need time to adjust to the changes. Shiro seems to be the only one on Egal's side in this endeavour. The Princess Allura hasn't been outright hostile, but every time Allura looks at Egal it's with suspicion and sadness. Allura doesn't trust Egal yet.

Hunk seems to be indifferent, but Egal can see that Hunk wishes that Egal wasn't there, that the missing Paladin was there instead. Egal can understand Hunk's feelings. Hunk is sad about the missing Paladin, but it still hurts every time Hunk leaves the room.

The worst one though is Pidge. Pidge is just straight up mean and doesn't hide the fact that Pidge doesn't think Egal should be there in the first place. Pidge is always shouting at Egal, telling Egal to just 'get lost' and worst of all, making fun of Egal's confusion with some of the weird 'pronoun' words the others use. It had started when they first met.

"Are . . . are you a he or a she?" Hunk had asked bluntly. "I'm sorry, I honestly can't tell."

Egal had tilted Egal's head in confusion. "Egal is Egal. What is a She?"

"Uh, you know, like gender?" Hunk prompted.

"Gen-drrr?"

"You know what? Never mind."

"Who is You? What does You know?"

"Ugh. Forget it."

But Egal didn't forget about it. In fact, Egal thought about it very hard and tried to figure out who the others were referring to when they called each other You and He and She and I . . .

It—it just frustrated Egal. One should call themselves by their name. Why add in unnecessary words to complicate things further? If Egal is referring to Egal, Egal will say Egal. If Egal is referring to Shiro, Egal will say Shiro! Where do these 'pronoun' things come into play? Pronouns are redundant and dumb! Why bother with pronouns in the first place?!

Allura and Shiro tried to speak clearer when Egal was around, and Hunk had at one point tried making a game of it to teach Egal about these new words. But Pidge . . . Pidge was just so unreasonable! And Egal _knew_ that it was because Pidge was frustrated because of Pidge's situation and not being able to go on missions, but Egal could only take so much of it. So Egal had done the rational thing and tried talking to Pidge, tried to make nice and get to know Pidge better. Try to be a better team mate.

"It doesn't matter what _you_ want," Pidge had snapped at Egal. "Because as soon as we find Lance, _and we will find Lance_, you're gone. You're only here right now because we need a fifth Paladin to form Voltron and for some messed up reason the Red Lion's letting you pilot her. But don't get too comfortable, because you're just a substitute. Soon enough we won't need you anymore."

Egal hasn't tried talking to Pidge since then. Egal hasn't said much of anything to anyone. Shiro noticed and tried asking Egal what was wrong. Maybe it was because Shiro was the only one who was truly on Egal's side, but Egal told Shiro what had happened.

"Maybe Pidge is right. Egal isn't a real Paladin, just a substitute. Why is Egal even here? Would it be better if Egal just went back home?"

Shiro watched Egal with a strange look on Shiro's face before responding. "The Red Lion chose yo—uh, chose Egal to be a Paladin. Whether the others like it or not, that fact isn't going to change. Egal is here for a reason, trust me."

"But what if the missing Paladin comes back," Egal asked. "Everyone is still looking, right? Will Egal have to leave then? Should Egal just leave now and save everyone the trouble?"

Shiro sighed, "I can't say what the future will bring. But I—Shiro knows that we—the team—needs you now. So, for now, this is where you belong."

Egal left that conversation feeling marginally better, but that doesn't mean that Egal would start talking to the others. The only one that Egal _did _talk to was the Red Lion. The Red Lion would sit and listen, not as Egal talked, but to Egal's thoughts. Sharing a mind space took some getting used to, but Egal now took comfort in the little voice that shared encouragement in Egal's head, that would help sort through Egal's thoughts and restate that Egal had a place on the team. . . even if the others didn't quite recognize that yet.

Even now, the Red Lion was a strong pillar for Egal as Egal and the rest of the Paladins (minus Pidge) were flying over the water covered planet to where the Fire Relic was supposedly hidden.

"Why is it that the _Fire_ Relic is located on a _water_ planet?" Hunk asked through the coms.

"Focus, Hunk," Shiro reprimanded as they skimmed over the ocean toward the only land mass in sight.

"I'm just saying that it's a little weird, is all."

"The Relics work is odd ways," Coran's voice crackled from the Castle. "They also cause interesting phenomenon, so keep an eye out."

"Right."

As they approached the island, the Paladins got their first look at the mountain that dominated the landscape and the giant tree that grew from it. The island, which was obviously once lush and green, was now full of colourful browns and reds as the last of the leaves piled on the ground and autumn came to a close.

"It's beautiful," Allura breathed, taking it all in. "Amazing how such a large tree can grow straight out of solid rock."

Egal had the urge to correct Allura and offer up that most likely there are pockets of soil and nutrients that the tree and other vegetation could live off of but Egal held back at the possibility of a reprimand that Egal knew wouldn't come, but was scared of none the less.

The Lions set down in a clearing on the coast of the island and Coran's voice crackled in their ears again. "Now, if I remember correctly, the Fire Relic should be located at the top of the mountain, sheltered by the big Euphorian Tree."

"All the way up there, huh," Shiro said.

"The people who live here have built their villages around the base of the mountain, which they worship as their god," Coran continued spewing facts.

"Really? A mountain god?" Hunk questioned, skeptical.

"It has something to do with the island's cycle of rebirth," Coran waved it off. "But in any case, they may not be too happy with you all going up there and messing around. I suggest you meet up with their leader so as to not cause any unnecessary conflict and hostility."

"In that case, we best leave the Lions where they won't be mistaken as a threat," Shiro said.

"I agree," Allura added. "Coran, can you direct us to the village?"

"Scans of the island are complete," Pidge's voice came over the coms from where Pidge sat on the bridge of the Castle with Coran. "Sending the quickest calculated route to the nearest village. Hope you guys like hiking."

Hunk groaned as everyone emerged from their Lions and took in their surroundings. There was nothing but forests and trees and fallen leaves around them. A map popped up in each of their visors, outlining a vague layout of the island and a red flashing line that showed them the way to go, which was entirely through the forest.

"Great," Hunk resigned to fate. "You know, nature walks were never really my thing."

"Come on, big guy," Shiro gave Hunk a light smile and tapped Hunk's shoulder to get Hunk moving. "We got this."

Allura took the lead and Egal let the others trail ahead before bringing up the rear, as Hunk kept babbling.

"I mean, like, this is the _Fire _Relic, right? And I know I've pointed this out before, but we're on a _water_ planet, on a little island that's mostly _forest_, heading for a giant _rocky_ mountain . . . Anybody else catching my drift here? There's like everything here _except_ fire!" The others only seemed to shake their heads and take it in stride, but Egal couldn't help but furrow a brow.

Wasn't time of the essence? The Paladin's were in a race to seal the Relics, right? So why is the Team wasting time being diplomatic instead of flying straight to the top of the mountain and being done with it all? What if, while the team is wasting time talking, the enemy steals the Relic? It doesn't sit well with Egal, but Egal keeps quiet and follows the others who were weaving through the trees toward the mountain that could still be seen through the bare branches of the forest.

Other than the crunching of leaves and the occasional scamper of an animal, it was quiet. Hunk eventually ran out of things to complain about and the team walked in silence, following Pidge's pre-planned route. After half a varga or so, the heat and humidity started to get to Hunk who started fantasizing about things called smoothies and cold watermelons and ice cream sundaes until Shiro told Hunk to give it a rest because it was making Shiro hungry.

It wasn't too much longer until the tree-cover broke and a large clearing that spanned all the way to the base of the mountain opened up. Sprawled out before the team was a set of big, barren fields and farther back was a number of small buildings, huts and even some tents.

"Is this it?" Hunk asked panting and slumped on a tree. "Are—are we finally here?"

"According to Pidge's map, this is the village," Allura said, double checking their position. "And it looks like we've gotten the attention of the locals as well."

Sure enough, Egal spots a small figure fleeing back into one of the huts and moments later a woman comes out and ushers the child further into the village.

"Well, they don't look hostile," Shiro notes, relaxing a bit as the woman approaches with no weapons in hand.

Egal inspects the woman who stops a fair distance away, and took notice of the pointed, furry cat ears sprouting out of the woman's head.

"State your business," the woman yells from a safe distance away. There wasn't hostility in the voice, but it wasn't welcoming either.

"My name is Princess Allura," Allura stepped forward, taking off the pink helmet and smiling kindly. "My companions and I wish to speak with your leader."

"And what business do you have with the Shah?" the cat woman asked.

"We wish to gain safe passage up the Mountain."

The woman's brow scrunched, "Why would you want to go up there?"

"That is what we wish to speak to your leader, uh, the Shah, about," Allura quickly adapted to their terms.

The woman inspected the team with a critical eye, then with a nod of approval, the woman waved them forward. "You can call me Rosa. Well, come on then. I'll show you the way."

"What!?" The child from before had returned with another, bigger, cat person with grey ears in tow. This man _did_ have a weapon and mean looking eyes. "They're Outsiders! Why are you letting them in!?" the child continued to shout at the woman.

"Hush now, Mateo," Rosa scolded. "They are obviously not from the Tyke clan."

"That's what you said about the other Outsiders who passed through and look where that got us!" The child turned and fled deeper into the village.

"Mateo!" Rosa called after the child and sighed. "I apologize, but we have not had the best luck recently with Outsiders."

"These are trying times," Allura nodded. "But then why are you trusting us?"

"I don't trust you," Rosa said simply. "I'm simply giving you the benefit of the doubt. After all, that's why I had the child fetch Greyson here." She gestured to the warrior who had come to flank her side. The warrior inspected each Paladin in turn, a dark gaze lingering on each as if assessing each persons' threat level. The warrior seemed to come to the same conclusion as the woman did and nodded in acceptance.

"I will take over from here," Greyson said, stepping aside to let Rosa return to the hut.

Rosa nodded back and turned to the Paladins. "I hope you can find what you are looking for."

And with that, Greyson led the group past the farmland and into the small village.

"This is the Toms Village," Greyson introduced, leading them down the main path. "You caught us just as we're finishing the harvest. The winter months are quickly approaching and there's still much preparation to do."

The village was composed of a couple of rows of huts made of stone and mud. The gaze of every cat-eared person was drawn to the group of Outsiders being led through the streets. It seemed like everyone stopped what they were doing and watched as Greyson led he team up to one of the huts that didn't stand out from the rest in any way.

"Greyson, who do we have here?" a white-haired Tom asked, coming up beside the group with weary eyes.

"Shah," Greyson bowed respectfully. "These Outsiders wished to see you."

"I see." Now it was the Shah's turn to examine the Paladins. "Well come in and let's talk."

* * *

**A/N:** Fun Fact! I created the island of Firannial for a One Piece fic that I started who knows how many years ago that goes into more detail about the lore of the island, their past and their internal struggles between the two feuding villages. If you'd like to read more about it, you can check it out but . . . yeah I haven't updated it in forever :S One of these days I'll get around to it again. And this isn't the only time I've also used this island, it seems to pop up in almost all my writing, fanfiction and otherwise :P

Other note, do you realize how hard it is to write in the perspective of someone who doesn't understand pronouns?! It takes some very careful writing and editing and make damn well sure there ain't none hiding in there that I missed! And if I did, our poor little Egal is finally learning to use human pronouns. :D


	5. 04

"So, Paladin's of Voltron, you wish to travel to the top of the Shining Mountain," the Shah leaned back in his chair, an old pair of white cat ears flicking on his head. "I must warn you, it is not an easy journey. No one has dared travel up there in many generations."

"In generations, huh?" Hunk stutters, tapping the tips of his fingers together. "And, uh, why—why's that?"

"Because the Shining Mountain is sacred. It brings life to our land and replenishes the forests life force," the Shah smiled mischievously. "And probably because of the Guardians that protect it."

"Guardians?" Hunk squeaked.

"Yes," the Shah nodded sagely, hiding a teasing smile. "Great beasts that nest upon the mountain's ledges. They attack anyone who disturbs them. All who have been foolish enough to try and climb the mountain are never seen again. Only bloody scraps of clothing have ever been recovered."

"Soooo," Hunk deadpanned. "You're telling me that we have to climb a big giant mountain infested with Guardian monsters that will rip us apart without the slightest hesitation."

"That is one way to proceed," the Shah said. "But it is not recommended."

"You don't say," Hunk hunched over, sliding behind Egal and shooting Shiro a pleading look that asked if this was all really necessary. Shiro bit back the smile pulling at his face and Egal stared at Hunk, not quite sure what to do about the yellow paladin hiding behind him.

"There is another way," the Shah chuckled, "but whether it will be easier or quicker, I couldn't say."

"Say these things sooner!" Hunk whined as he peeked out from behind Egal.

The Shah chuckled, "There exists a number of caverns within the Shining Mountain that are said to lead all the way up to the top. They were carved out when our people first colonised this island. We believe that our ancestors once lived within the mountain itself, but sadly much of our history about those times have been lost. As such, no one has used the tunnels in generations. Whether you'd be able to navigate all the way to the top or even if the tunnels remain passable? Who knows."

"Couldn't we fly our lions up there?" Shiro asked.

"That would only anger the Guardians. And while I'm sure your lions are very formidable, I ask that you do not bring harm to them. They may be vicious beasts, but they are considered sacred to our culture," the Shah warned.

"Of course," Allura said, placatingly. "No harm will come to the Guardians."

"Then it seems like the tunnels are our only option," Shiro shrugged.

_Great,_ Egal thought and crossed Egal's arms._ Dark places._ Hunk had backed up a few steps but was wringing his hands and looking around nervously.

"You have my blessing to embark on this journey," the Shah said with warning in his voice, "but the Shining Mountain is not only sacred to our people, but it plays an incremental piece of our islands cycle of rebirth. I ask you to tread carefully and take only what you seek."

"Of course," Allura bowed respectfully.

**Oo-oO**

Seeing the world through the eyes of the soul was disorienting. Being able to watch the flow of quintessence, to pick out a single life source, to track that life source across the galaxy even though it's been shattered and is fading back into the universe's flow. . . That's how he's been able to track down the delicate fragments of Lance's soul.

Keith uses his sight now as he treks through the autumn forest, kicking up dead leaves and following the bright red signature of the Fire Relic.

He could make out the dull soul signatures of many residents clustered into two villages at opposite sides of the mountain. Keith bypassed the villages and reached the base of the mountain a little after mid-day. The sun was bright and the air was humid and hot despite the clear autumn season.

He tilts his head back to take in the climb ahead of him.

The initial incline up the mountain wasn't too steep, but that didn't last too long. About halfway up it turned to a sheer cliff face. At the very top of this giant mountain was the red light that shone brightly and drove him to keep going. The Fire Relic was up there. The first of five pieces he needed to fix everything.

He's filled with determination and takes his first step up the mountain.

**Oo-oO**

Egal trailed at the back of the group as the warrior Greyson led them through the village to the base of the mountain where a tunnel that could fit an elguantant had been boarded off.

"Not too long ago," Greyson explained as they came to a stop before the cave, "we used this tunnel to do trade with the village on the other side of the mountain."

Egal's head tilted in curiosity and listened closely. The tunnel was now boarded up and clearly no one had bothered coming near it for a long time based off the undisturbed plant growth on the path leading up to it.

"What happened?" Allura asked, voicing Egal's curiosity.

Greyson's gaze fell. "For generation our two villages have shared this island and for generations we have kept to ourselves. In recent years, we have been having increasingly bad harvests, so the Shah proposed we begin a trade route with our Tyke neighbours. After much discussion these old tunnels were renovated into a bazaar where both our people could sell and trade. But it didn't last.

"Some believe that our people should continue to remain independent of each other. The skirmishes started out small; a broken stall, stolen goods, but it was enough to start discords between us. Things escalated. In the end, a shipment of fish was infected with deadly bacteria and given to us Toms. Many were infected and fell ill. There is a cure, but the infection was so widespread that our stores weren't enough to save everyone. The elderly were lost first, and a number of children were unable to pull through." Greyson's hands balled into fists as he remembered the nightmarish nights filled with the cries of grieving parents. "Since then, our people have been feuding."

"Guess we can't really blame you for the cold reception then," Shiro commented.

"Mateo has always been a spirited child," Greyson said with sad eyes. "But he has more reason than most to hate Outsiders. His brother was one of the children who died."

"How terrible," Allura lowered her gaze. "I wish there was something we could do to help."

"I appreciate the sentiment, but any help from Outsiders will probably end in more harm than good," Greyson said. "Many believe it was an Ousider's influence that began the revolts in the first place."

"Not that I'm ungrateful," Shiro stepped forward, "but if you've had such problems with Outsiders why are you helping us now?"

Greyson studied Shiro and his ears twitched as he considered his response. "I can't speak for the others, but in my experience there are more good people out there than bad. Unfortunately, in our blindness we only remember the bad and forget the good all too easily in our misery. I'm willing to take a chance that you fall into the larger category. But if you prove me wrong, I promise it will be my blade you fall on."

Shiro met his eye and held his gaze in acknowledgement.

Greyson accepted their silent agreement and turned back to the tunnel. "If you continue down the tunnel for half a varga you will come to the old market place. You should find more tunnels to the upper levels in that area. Each tunnel is marked to indicate which chamber it leads to but be careful. No one has used these tunnels in generations. Watch for unstable support beams and rock slides."

"Thank you for your help," Allura bowed her head slightly.

Greyson nodded back, "Good luck."

Soon they were walking in a line through the overly large tunnel with Egal, again, trailing at the back. The light slowly faded away as the entrance got farther away and their armour began to glow a light Altean blue, but it wasn't enough to chase the shadows away and they twisted along the walls as the Paladins passed by. It wasn't long until Egal began to feel the absence of the sun. His chloroplasts began shutting down and he fought off the drowsiness it brought along.

"Anyone else got a bad feeling about this?" Hunk asked with a voice that echoed strangely in the cave. Hunk shuffled a little closer to Egal again.

Yes. Yes, Egal had that feeling, but it may have just been the dark talking.

"There's no one else here, Hunk," Shiro reassured shooting Hunk a reassuring smile. "You heard them all, no one's been here for generations."

"Yeah," Hunk hunched over a little more. "That's what's worrying me."

**Oo-oO**

Keith managed to haul himself up and sprawled over on the ledge with a heaving breath. He'd been climbing for a few vargas now and it wasn't as easy as he'd first thought. He wished, not for the first time, that Umbra's portal wasn't just for crossing into the pocket dimension. He could really do with some short distance teleportation right now instead of having to scale a bloody mountain with nothing but his bare hands and his knife. He'd nearly fallen at least three times and actually fallen twice, managing to stop himself only by stabbing the sheer cliff with his luxite blade.

Yeah. He'd say he deserved a bit of a rest.

He sighed and pulled himself up to lean against the rock face and pull his legs out from over the edge. While he caught his breath he tilted his head up to see how much further it was to the top.

The red light of the Relic had gotten brighter the closer he'd gotten. He was still pretty far away but it was already blinding. His breath hitched just thinking how it would be up close. He doubted he'd even be able to look at it with his soul sight.

Keith relaxed his eyes and flexed his hand as felt his muscles start to cramp up. He shouldn't stay still too much longer. He had to keep moving. He couldn't stop now. The sooner he completed his goal, the sooner everything would be set right.

He stumbled to his feet and took a minute to find his balance again.

Then he heard it.

An animalistic cry ripped through the air. Keith froze as the wind kicked up and a giant shape flew past too fast and too close. Keith scrambled for a hand hold to prevent himself from being thrown off the ledge and squeezed his eyes shut in the maelstrom.

The creature screamed again and Keith's eyes opened wide beneath his mask as what he could only describe as a giant red _dragon_ landed on the cliff face right in front of him. Giant claws pierced hand holds into the sheer rock, wings outstretched for balance, and its maw opened wide with two rows of long jagged teeth.

Keith swore under his breath and drew his luxite blade. He couldn't believe he was standing off against a _dragon_! Or, he tried to stand off against it, but the ledge he was on wasn't quite big enough and the dragon was perched a little too far away. He was in trouble. He couldn't maneuver here.

Casting around, he spotted a small path farther up the mountain to a landing that he had been aiming for. If he could make it up there he'd be able to fight better.

Ready . . .

The dragon roared again. One clawed hand detached from the rock sending bits of rubble tumbling down. Then it latched onto the ledge where Keith was standing.

_Ready . . . _

Another step forward, the dragon took its time, its eyes boring into Keith sizing him up.

Keith braced.

The dragon dove forward, teeth gleaming. Keith lunged, rolled and started sprinting up the path, which honestly wasn't much of a path. Keith stumbled and his feet slid on the loose rock. He heard the dragon scramble and fall off the ledge only to snap out its wings and soar.

Keith kept his eyes in front of him, but he could see the dragon's quintessence with his soul sight which extended a full 360°. It was a deep grey colour tinged with red, probably from exposure to the Relic. The thought barely flit through his head before the dragon swooped in again.

Keith dove. He felt the dragon's claws rip his cloak as he rolled onto the landing.

With practiced movement, he was up on his feet again, hand braced on the ground in front of him and luxite blade held up in ready position. Only . . .

He realized his mistake too late.

The landing wasn't really a landing.

It was a nest.

A deep pit of dread bubbled in his chest as he felt something barrel into him from behind and he cracked his head on the ground.


	6. 05

The Paladins had been navigating the tunnels within the Shining Mountain for what felt like hours. And Egal was beginning to feel the effects of being trapped in the dark for too long. Sluggishness, exhaustion, and the need to just curl up and wait for the sun to come out again was strong, fended off only by the soft glow of the Paladin armour and the insulating cloak that Pidge had designed to absorb the sun's rays and re-emit them in the dark (although Pidge had complained about the need for them the first time the issue had presented itself).

The cloak tied around Egal's neck and fell past Egal's knees. There were fitted sleeves to allow a wide range of movement in case a fight arose and it emitted a soft glow as it released the stored energy from the sun.

Being a plant-based organism required constant exposure to light to create the energy Egal needed. With time though, Egal had become more resistant to the dark, but they had been in the dark for a while now and Egal was starting to feel the effects, hence the glowing cloak. Egal tried hard to hide it, but Shiro still sent him anxious glances now and then. Egal shakes it off. It's just a little darkness. Is this not what Egal was fighting against? The Darkness? Egal wasn't going to lose.

So Egal breathed a little deeper, stood a little closer to the minimal light and fought through the drowsiness. Egal wasn't going to drag the team down and prove Egal's insecurities right. Egal was a Paladin. Egal was strong.

Now if only Egal believed it.

The team comes to another fork in the tunnel. Two of the paths sloped upwards while the third stayed level.

"Yay, another path," Hunk grumbled walking closer to the split and running a hand over the symbols carved into the walls that were supposed to lead them on the correct path. "Are we sure we're even going in the right direction? I mean, it doesn't really feel like we've been going up at all."

"We can only keep moving forward," Allura said moving beside Hunk and squinting at the symbols.

"None of these symbols look like any of the others we've seen before," Shiro commented from another tunnel. Shiro's head was tilted to stare blankly at the symbol which looked like a triangle with a star at the top.

"My Symbiese is a little rusty but I do believe that this one indicates sleep. Perhaps this tunnel leads to the living quarters," Allura pointed to the symbol over the left corridor.

"Or maybe it refers to the eternal sleep of the dead," Egal mumbled not expecting to be heard and started in surprise when Hunk was suddenly gripping Egal's arm and pleading to not say things like that. Egal apologizes as an embarrassed heat floods Egal's ears.

"Either way," Shiro shakes Shiro's head, "it's not where we want to go. That leaves two paths."

Egal manages to pry the arm away from Hunk. A discussion begins about which path should be followed; already too much time has been lost doubling back on dead ends and tunnels that lead in circles.

Egal stayed back as the others each put their thoughts in and was content to do so until Egal felt a prickling at Egal's back. Like the feeling one gets when a sleeping limb reawakens. There's a small rush of energy as the chloroplasts started synthesizing energy. Egal turned around to the mouth of the tunnel Egal stood in front of and sure enough, Egal's photo-enhanced eyes could detect minute rays of light bouncing off the walls of the tunnel.

"Hey," Egal spoke up, "Egal's thinks this one leads outside."

"What?" That got the other's attention.

"Minute rays of light are emanating from this way," Egal took a couple steps into the tunnel and where a faint light shone further down around the bend. Egal's face split into a smile and turned to the team. "It's not—"

*_CRASH!_*

Something outside crashed into the Mountain and the ground began to shake. Distantly, Egal remembered Greyson's warning.

'_No one has used these tunnels in generations. Watch for unstable support beams and rock slides.'_

Sure enough, the support beams were eaten through by bugs and the march of time, and they gave a loud crack under the pressure and shaking. Without any further warning, the ceiling began to split open and rubble rained down.

"Egal!"

Egal heard Egal's name being shouted and dove farther into the tunnel as chaos came crashing down. Noise and rocks and dust filled the air. Egal stumbled and fell. The only thing left to do was curl up and hope that the Paladin armour was enough to shield from the worst of the damage that could be incurred by a sudden rock slide.

It was with ringing ears that Egal realized that it was over. Egal uncurled carefully, coughing from the dust that still littered the air, and feeling for any injuries. Left ankle twinged, right arm brace cracked slightly, helmet still intact, jet pack functioning, all life signs green.

Results: Egal was functional. A little roughed up, but fine. Egal's cloak, though, had sustained a few tears and Egal knew for sure that Pidge would have something to say about it once everyone returned to the castle.

Shaking the thought away, Egal stood and stumbled over to the new wall of rubble that separated him from his team.

"Shiro! Allura! Hunk!" Egal shouted. Egal's strained ears may have caught muffled sounds produced from the team on the other side, but no discernable words could be made out. Egal tapped the helmet and tried to connect to the comms. Egal only got static.

"Great," Egal sighed and cast a gaze further into the tunnel. "Guess there's only one way to go."

**Oo-oO**

"Egal. . . Egal!" Shiro started throwing rocks around, trying to dig through the rubble that separated them from their teammate.

"Watch out!" Hunk suddenly pulled him away as another rockslide fell where Shiro was frantically digging. The rocks stilled and whatever progress Shiro had made had been more than undone.

"The tunnel is unstable," Allura's face was creased with worry as she examined what remained of the ceiling. "Disturbing anything else could trigger another rockslide on _both _sides." She pointed this last comment toward Shiro.

"Okay, okay," Shiro took a calming breath, trying to come back to himself. "I get it. Messing around on here can make it worse on the other side."

"So, what do we do now?" Hunk asked, poking his two index fingers together nervously.

"The only thing we can do is move forward," Allura said. "Egal said that there was an exit down that tunnel. If it leads outside, he should be able to meet up with us once we reach the top of the mountain. We just have to find another way there."

"You're right, Allura," Shiro nodded and turned to face the tunnels again. One led to a dead end, another was blocked by the rock slide, the last . . . "Guess that only leaves one way for us to go."

**Oo-oO**

Egal was running as soon as Egal saw the bright light at the end of the tunnel. The sluggishness melted away as soon as Egal stepped into the sunlight. The helmet came off and Egal turned to bask in the sun. With a few deep breaths of fresh air, Egal relaxed and opened up Egal's senses.

Egal immediately closed Egal's senses when not only one, but multiple other living organisms were detected very, _very _close by. Egal's eyes peaked open and Egal wished they were still closed so Egal didn't have to see the big—no no, the _giant_ red reptile that loomed above him.

"Oh quiznak," Egal took a step back toward the tunnel, only to bump into the snout of another one. Egal's cloak billowed in the breath snorted from the beasts nose.

_Right,_ Egal thought, lightheaded as another warning was remembered. _The Guardians._

Standing on four powerful legs with red scales gleaming in the sun, long tail swinging behind them and spiked, leathery wings flaring out, the beasts were a sight to behold.

Egal stood very still as the two Guardians grumbled and shuffled around what Egal realized was a nest.

Of course, _of COURSE_, Egal managed to stumble into the most dangerous part of the mountain, the place that the warrior Greyson warned about, the place Egal was foolish enough walk straight into without even realizing the danger.

Egal cursed and moved to draw the red bayard but paused and nearly fell as a third, much smaller Guardian pranced out from behind its parents' legs and came up to greet the Paladin. The baby Guardian only came up to Egal's waistline, but there was something about it that was almost . . . cute. Like, if Egal wasn't in a life-threatening situation right now, Egal may reach out a hand and pet the little Guardian.

Instead, the little Guardian took the initiative and pressed its snout up into Egal's hand. Egal still couldn't find the will to move though, not with the giant Guardians still looming above . . .

As if reading Egal's discomfort, the two giant Guardians made the ground shake as they laid down, a clear sign of their acceptance of this new stranger into their nest. Egal let out a breathless laugh as one of them set its head down beside Egal and allowed itself to be pet.

"Egal thought that the Guardians were supposed to be vicious beasts," Egal wondered aloud as the Guardian rumbled. "Egal sees that this was wrong."

Egal laughed as the little Guardian pounced from behind, knocking Egal to the ground and rolling together. Egal managed to come out on top and set about rubbing the little one's belly.

Egal's hands came to a stop when Egal noticed another form laying on the ground.

"What's that?" Egal asked the little Guardian. The little Guardian noticed what Egal was looking at and wiggled out from under Egal, bouncing energetically over to the prone form and nudging it with its snout.

As Egal got a closer look . . .

"That's another person!" Egal exclaimed and raced over to the persons side. The Stranger was clad in dark robes with a dark mask on that resembled a skull but was clearly equipped with an air filter. Was this Stranger from off world like Egal's team was? Were they a species that wasn't able to breath this air?  
Egal jumped when the Stranger groaned and shifted but leaned in to make sure they were alright.

"Hey—" Egal tried as the Stranger came to.

Without any forewarning the Stranger shoved Egal back and pulled a knife easily falling into a defensive stance. The little Guardian scampered back a few paces and hid behind its parents.

"Woah! Easy!" Egal shouted at the Stranger, raising hands up placatingly. "Calm down. No harm will be done."

"Who are you?" the Stranger asked, using those pronoun words that Egal hated so much.

"Egal is Egal," Egal introduced. "Egal found, uh _you_, in the Guardians nest. Is the Stranger okay?"

"Stranger? Uh, yeah, I guess," the Stranger slowly lowered the sword, but kept a tight grip on it. "What happened?"

"Egal doesn't know what happened to the Stranger, but Egal found the Stranger passed out up here."

"I was . . ." the Stranger's gaze drifted around and locked onto the Guardians. The Stranger tensed and gripped the knife tighter. "I was fighting." The Stranger said it as if to reaffirm what had happened. "Then something jumped me from behind."

"If Egal were to guess, that would have been the little Guardian," Egal crouched down to rub the little Guardian's back, who had come back over to see what was going on.

The Stranger seemed to watch the little Guardian before eyeing the larger reptiles who lay around them. Egal supposed the caution was warranted, but the creatures seemed to be docile enough right now.

"Yeah, real cute," the Stranger commented with distain. "Are you supposed to be some sort of dragon whisperer of something? Why aren't they trying to kill you?"

"Egal isn't sure. The Shah from the village below warned about the Guardians, said that they were vicious beasts. Apparently no one who ever ventured up here before was ever seen alive again." One of the Guardians reached out with a clawed appendage and nudged Egal. Egal smiled and took the claw, running a hand over it. "Perhaps the Shah's information is out of date."

"I don't know," the Stranger said wearily. "Seemed pretty accurate to me."

"Then maybe it's the Stranger that the Guardians don't like."

Even as Egal said so, the little Guardian bounced on the Stranger and they both went tumbling to the ground. The Stranger screeched and brandished the sword again while the little Guardian chirped happily.

"Then again, maybe the Guardians _do_ like the Stranger."

"Huh?" the Stranger seemed to relent as the little Guardian stuck out a tongue and licked at the skull mask. The Stranger pushed the little one away and after a small struggle, managed to slip out from under the little one and regain footing.

"You seem to know a lot about these guys," the Stranger said. "Who are you?"

"As Egal said, Egal is Egal."

"And it's weird to refer to yourself in the third person."

Egal's eyes narrowed. "Perhaps it is the Stranger who is weird for using those confusing pronoun things."

"Whatever," the Stranger shrugged and looked up toward the summit of the mountain. "I don't have time for this. It's been nice seeing you but I gotta keep going."

"Where is the Stranger going?" Egal followed as the Stranger started toward the cliff.

"Up."

"Wait, did the Stranger _climb_ all this way from the bottom of the mountain?" Egal looked toward the edge. It was a lot higher up than Egal thought.

"Yeah," the Stranger cast a look over a shoulder. "Why? How did you get up here?"

"The tunnels."

"There are tunnels!" The Stranger noticed the opening and ran over to it.

"Not very good tunnels," Egal joined the Stranger in peering into the cave. "There was a cave in and Egal got cut off from the team."

". . . Sorry to hear that?" the Stranger said awkwardly. "So I guess the only up is still scaling it from the outside then."

Egal furrowed Egal's brow and cast an eye over to the Guardians who were watching them with interest. "Or is it?"


	7. 06

"Yeah!" Egal cheered as Egal soared through the air on the Guardian's back.

"Holy Quiznak!" the Stranger yelled and clung for dear life to the other Guardian.

The little Guardian chirped triumphantly as it followed its parents into the clouds. It was amazing, similar to flying the Red Lion, but more freeing. Egal was able to feel the wind rushing by, howling in Egal's ears and sending the cloak billowing out behind. The sensation of Egal's stomach flopping as the Guardian swooped and spun. Egal laughed and soon the Stranger was as well.

All too soon, the Guardians descended into the giant tree that sprouted from the summit of the mountain, coming to a rest in its branches.

"Thank you, friends," Egal gave the Guardians a final pat, expecting them to fly off again. Instead, the Guardians stayed huddled up in the tree's branches, watching over the summit like the Guardians they were.

Well at least Egal had an easy way down the mountain.

Egal joined the Stranger on the ground. Together, Egal and the Stranger followed narrow path in silence, lined by tall rock walls until the path opened up into a near perfect circle. Egal's mouth fell open at the sight.

"Sweet mother of Sapling," Egal breathed.

The crater at the top of the mountain, shielded by the canopy of the giant Euphorian Tree, sparkling gemstones littered the ground, embedded in the rock walls and created patterns to the raised dais in the middle where the true treasure sat. A giant, crystal clear diamond that sparkled with rainbows from the few streaks of sunlight that penetrated the canopy. And within, Egal could feel it: the pull of the Fire Relic.

From beside Egal, the Stranger raised a hand to the skull-like mask, as if shielding the eyes from something bright. After a moment of adjustment, the Stranger lowered the hand and took in the view. Egal figured that if the Stranger's face were visible it would have the same awestruck expression that was most definitely on Egal's face.

Probably a little too late, Egal wondered why the Stranger was climbing the mountain. Even later, Egal realized that Egal was still referring to the Stranger as a stranger.

"Hey, Egal never caught the Stranger's name," Egal broke the awed silence, filling it was a suspicion that was way past due.

"Huh? Oh," the Stranger waved Egal off, too absorbed by the dais in the middle of the crater. "It's not important."

"So Egal is supposed use the moniker of the Stranger forever?"

"We won't be seeing each other for much longer, so what does it matter?"

Egal let a hand drift to the bayard, mentally berating the recklessness Egal showed by unquestioningly accepting this Stranger without a word.

"Since we're asking questions," the Stranger had stopped and turned to Egal. "Why are you up here?"

"Perhaps the Stranger could answer the same question," Egal threw right back. "Since no answers are being given."

"How about we agree to stop asking questions?"

"Egal's not sure how to feel about that," Egal's eyes narrow as the Stranger places a hand on the sword strapped to the Strangers belt. Likewise, Egal summons the red bayard but it doesn't transform. "Seeing as how both Egal and the Stranger are probably up here for the same reason."

The Stranger went still. "That's—" the Stranger pointed to the bayard in recognition. "You—you're a Paladin!" the Stranger's voice cracked. Just then the wind picked up and the Stranger could make out the unmistakable outline of the Paladin armour concealed by Egal's cloak.

"Egal!"

The Stranger flinched at the voice and spun around just as Shiro and the team emerged from the nearby cavern. Just in time.

"Woah," Shiro whistled and spun around, taking in the crater of the Mountain.

"Egal!" Hunk called out and ran over, nearly tripping over the gems embedded in the ground. "You're okay! We were all so worried when the tunnel caved in—"

Egal braced as Hunk approached too fast. "Egal is fine," Egal fended Hunk off as Hunk blathered on but paused when the Stranger was noticed.

"Who's this?" Hunk inquired, raising an eyebrow at the Stranger who was silently backing away.

Shiro and Allura caught up and immediately took in the situation; Egal facing off against an enemy with bayard drawn. Shiro's right hand started to glow, Egal heard the faint hum as it heated up and noticed the Stranger flinch slightly.

"Enemy?" Shiro asked quietly to Egal.

"Likely," Egal answered solemnly. "Or at least up here for the same reason the Team is." Egal felt muscles start to relax. Egal was no longer alone. Egal's team was here as well.

"Who are you?" Allura spoke up, stepping in line next to Shiro. "What are you doing up here?"  
"What does Voltron want with the Relic of Fire?" the Stranger demanded.

Egal blinked. The Stranger's voice was drastically different than it had been a dobash before. The Stranger was using voice altering software?

"Oh, he knows who we are," Hunk whined from behind Egal.

Shiro stepped forward with a confidence and pride that had Egal straightening up. "We're here to protect the Relic from those who would use it for evil."

The Stranger's head tilted down as his hands balling into fists. "It's in your best interest to just let this happen," the Stanger's voice was distorted and the words sent a chill through Egal and Hunk audibly 'gulped'. "But I know that just telling you that won't make you back down."

"_SKREEEEEEECH!_"

Everyone except the Stranger flinched as the Guardians that were sitting passively in the Mountain's giant tree took flight.

"What are those!?" Hunk screamed and latched onto Egal.

Shiro and Allura's eyes snapped up to the hulking beasts. Shiro flung a protective arm out in front of the team as one slammed into the ground. It shook the Mountain and loomed protectively in front of the Stranger.

"The Guardians," Egal voiced in awe. "The Guardians are . . . protecting the Stranger?"

"THOSE are the Guardians!?" Hunk squeaked. "The same Guardians that the Shah warned us about? That are supposed to kill anyone who comes close to their nest?"

"Egal doesn't think the Guardians are guarding the nest. Egal believes the Guardians are protecting the Relic."

"Then . . ."

"Then we have to defeat the Guardians to get to the Relic," Shiro concluded.

"But why would they so easily allow _him_ to approach it?" Allura demanded. Egal could see the hesitation in her demeanor. Allura didn't want to bring harm to the Guardians. After all, the Shah had warned against it.

To destroy one who seeks to protect . . . It didn't sound right to Egal. There was something more at work here.

Slowly, and to the distress of the rest of the team, Egal approached the growling Guardian.

"Egal!"

"What are you doing?

"Do you want to get killed?!"

Egal remained silent as the Guardian's giant intelligent eyes watch with hot, puffing breath. In all rights, Egal should be terrified, but the fear was nowhere to be found. This beast protected the Fire Relic. Egal was the Paladin of the Lion who was one with the flames. Egal and the Guardian shared something deeper. Shared the same thing that had led Egal towards the path in the Mountain that had collapsed. Egal realized that this connection was guiding Egal.

Egal stretched out a hand to the Guardian. A moment passed and Egal's lungs restricted as doubt began to filter in. Then the Guardian lowered its giant snout and pressed it into Egal's hand, just as the little Guardian had done. Egal's breath stuttered in amazement and Egal turned to smiled at the Team. The others smiled back, and Hunk let out a relieved chuckle. But the second the others began approaching the Guardian snapped back up and barred glinting teeth and a deep, threatening growl.

"It seems as if the beast will only allow Egal to pass," Allura realized at the same time everyone else did. The Guardians weren't siding with the Stranger. They were keeping the others away. The Guardians had deemed Egal and the Stranger worthy of approaching. No one else. Something in Egal's stomach dropped and Egal looked to Shiro for instruction.

Shiro met Egal's eyes and nodded. "Go."

Egal's eyes widened. Shiro was putting trust in Egal. Egal wouldn't let Shiro down.

**Oo-oO**

In reality, Keith should have realized that something like this was bound to happen. He had just really, _really _wished that it hadn't. If anything, the new Paladin didn't seem like a bad guy; a little strange, sure, with green skin, red spotted face and wearing a ridiculous poncho with sleeves that kind of glowed. . . but for some reason it still hurt. It hurt to see someone foreign on the team.

They had replaced him. They had replaced _Lance_.

Keith knew in his head that it was unrealistic to continue fighting a war without their strongest weapon and, let's face it, you need five Paladins to form Voltron.

But man, it hurt.

He didn't care about himself. Keith accepted long ago that he wasn't part of the team anymore. He stepped down himself. He found another way to continue fighting. But Lance . . . This was all he ever had. This was his family. What was going to happen when—

_No! Focus!_ Keith stumbled back as the Guardian landed directly in front of him. His old team was fully distracted. These feelings didn't matter. All he had to do was get the Fire Relic and get out of here.

He was blinded the moment he used his soul sight. The Relic was just too bright. Keith could _feel_ the quintessence pouring off the Relic. His body buzzed, and he blamed it on the excess power in the air and not the fact that he was facing his old team for the first time in months.

Gems crunched under his feet as he ran to the raised dais. The quintessence poured from the large diamond encased at its peak, but the Relic wasn't the diamond itself. The Relics, Umbra had taught him, were more than physical objects. They were symbols of power that transcended the physical plane. In order to obtain the Relic, he would have to coax it out.

Keith took his stance in front of the alter and in a practiced motion, drew a circle with the toe of his shoe, then imbued the ground with his own quintessence. This created the framework for the extraction hex. His hands came together, and he drew out a portion of his own quintessence, faded and pale in the presence of the Relic of Fire.

The sigil burned to life at his feet: five points shone on the circle and four lines surrounded the circle, encasing it, like how he gathered the soul fragments only on a larger scale.

Keith grit his teeth as the hex ripped through his inner quintessence. Agonizingly slow, the sigil rose from the ground and circled around the diamond. He could feel it, the pure energy that passed through him in overwhelming amounts, tearing at his soul, breaking off bits of himself and carrying it away, leaving behind tainted scars in its wake. Keith pushed one last time against the pain as it all clicked into place.

Heaving for breath, Keith didn't remember when he fell to his knees even as his body trembled against the pain of corrupting his own quintessence. The darkness encroached more each time he used the hex, and he didn't care one bit.

He climbed back to his feet, stumbling through the exhaustion. He still wasn't done. The sigil was locked into place around the Fire Relic hidden within the diamond, now he just has to extract it.

"Stranger!"

Keith glanced over his trembling shoulder, it's the most movement he could spare at the moment. It was the new Paladin, who had ripped off the cloak and now stood before Keith. The Guardians paid the two of them no mind, instead focusing on driving the others back with swipes of their claws and powerful gusts of wind created by their great wings.

Pink armour dove out of the way as one beast swooped in with claws gleaming. Black armour swung a glowing arm, slicing through tumbling rocks and boulders that threatened to crush him. Yellow armour spun out from behind the cover of a rock and fired canon blasts before taking cover once again.  
And Red armour stood before him, the Red Bayard glowed and transformed into what Keith could only describe as twin pistols with a blade that elongated from the handle end and followed the length of the wielder's arm to the elbow. It was like a combination of gun and tonfa.

"Egal can not let the Stranger steal the Relic of Fire," the Red Paladin spun the Bayard, wielding the blade like a sword.

Keith sucked in a deep breath. He had to fight so he willed his limbs to stop shaking. "We'll see about that."

The Red Paladin charged. Keith took his stance, hand immediately reaching for his luxite blade hidden among his Apprentice robes.

_No_. He hesitated at the last second.

Luxite is a rare material as it is. Even among the Blades of Marmora each member had their own unique blade. It would be a dead giveaway.

He—he wasn't ready to face his team yet. Not after—

The Red Paladin yelled, and the Bayard arced through the air.

Instinct took over before Keith could think it through. He ducked under the slash and the quintessence that still buzzed from the hex answered his call. Dark chains sprang from the glowing circle on the ground and pierced through the Red Paladin's armour, binding his soul. The Red Paladin's eyes widened when his body stopped moving on its own, frozen mid-swing.

Keith once again found himself gasping on his knees, clutching the pain in his chest. He was using too much. He had to hurry.

"Egal!" Keith heard Shiro shout above the madness. Keith turned to look at the Black Paladin through his mask before the Guardians drove him back again. He spared the Red Paladin one last look. Egal was fighting against the hex, struggling to move, but Keith had bound his soul. There was no escape.

The Fire Relic could now be seen without the aid of his soul sight. A deep red shining through the giant diamond that had been coaxed out by the hex. Keith took a shaking step toward it and stretched out his hands.

He just had to extract it. Then he could go back. He could return. One step closer. Closer to fixing everything.

Quintessence rushed forward. It ripped through him again.

Keith's throat started hurting. He realized he was screaming. It hurt. Like his soul was being destroyed. No. Not destroyed, corrupted. Corruption hurt. But it was okay. He'd bare it. He'd bare anything. He'd—

He fell back as everything gave way.

Then there was silence.

The Guardians stopped.

The rocks settled.

The Paladins froze and stared.

Keith scrambled to sit up. In his lap, encircled by the sigil, was the Fire Relic. It was nothing more than a small, intense light, burning a bright red colour. The sigil finished its job, surrounding the Relic with a soul barrier before fading from existence.  
Keith felt the pressure of the active spell suddenly fall from his soul and he almost passed out in relief. One second of relief was all it took for the hex on the Red Paladin to fall as well.

The Red Paladin stumbled forward as the bindings fell.

"Quiznak," Keith cursed under his breath.

Egal blinked in confusion before the anger took over his face. "Put it back," the Red Paladin seethed.

Keith wobbled onto his feet and took a step back. He felt lightheaded. The hex took more out of him than he expected. He forced his eyes to stay open but the ache in his chest begged for rest.

_Soon . . . just have to . . ._

"Return the Relic!" the Red Paladin screamed and in a practiced motion, spun his bayard around, and fired the gun at Keith.

Keith stumbled again as his armour absorbed laser fire, but he came back to himself and took the full brunt of the new Red Paladin charging at him.

Keith distantly registered that the Guardians had disappeared, and he could see the various expressions on his old team's faces. Shiro was focused and determined, as always. Allura seemed horrified, probably because they were about to lose the Relic. Hunk seemed worried, honestly nothing new.

He realized that Pidge wasn't there . . . probably off causing chaos somewhere else.

The Red Paladin wielded the blades and Keith used his free hand to deflect them and duck away. He kept the Fire Relic clutched close to his chest. His whole body burned from overexertion.

Something bumped the back of his leg as he continued stumbling out of the Red Paladin's range and Keith looked back to see the island, lush with forest and full of life, spread out behind him. The only thing separating them was a small ledge of stone that was only a few feet high and a very long drop down.

The Red Paladin took stock of the situation. Keith had been pushed into a corner, no where to run. The Red Paladin took his time and stalked forward, spinning the blades just like you would spin a tonfa.

_I don't have to fight,_ Keith reminded himself through the haze settling over his mind. _Just get back . . . _He fumbled with the device on his wrist and somehow managed to jab at the right buttons. It whirred to life, the beginnings of a portal starting to form below.

Before the Red Paladin could reach him, Keith watched startled expressions spread across the Red Paladin's face as he let himself tip back . . . and fall.


	8. 07

Egal slid to a stop as the Stranger tipped over the edge of the Mountain. Egal isn't sure how long Egal stood there starring, but a touch on the shoulder jolted Egal back to reality. Egal dashed over, planting both hands on the flimsy ledge, and peered over as far as he could.

Egal was unsure of what there was to see, but certainly wasn't expecting to see nothing.

"B—but. . ."

The rest of the team formed a line beside Egal.

"Uh . . . where did he go?" Hunk asked, hesitantly.

Shiro furrowed his brow. "He couldn't have fallen that fast."

"That means . . ." Allura trailed off.

Egal grunted in frustration and pounded at the ledge. "The Enemy escaped with the Relic of Fire."

**Oo-oO**

Umbra appeared out of thin air in front of the alter, accompanied by the black and white orbs of power. The rejuvenation pod was steadily working to preserve the body and soul of his apprentice's _brother._ A small smile spread under Umbra's emotionless mask.

_Just one piece in the grand scheme._

The portal snapped into existence over the alter; swirling black and infinite. Then his apprentice fell through, landing flat on his back and knocking the air from his lungs. Umbra's gaze locked onto the brightly glowing orb that his apprentice clutched to desperately to his chest.

Umbra supressed the giddy laughter in his throat. The first Relic. His dream was one step closer to becoming a reality. This time he wouldn't fail.

He flicked over to his apprentice's side and knelt down beside him, the perfect image of a caring mentor.

"Keith," he called gently and slides off the skull mask. Keith's face is pinched in pain as he tries to regain his breath. Even so, Umbra has to urge him to lay still when the child tries to sit up. His breath came in heavy gasps and his body tensing in pain. They were obvious sign of corruption. A result, no doubt, of extracting the Fire Relic. But—

Umbra ran a hand over Keith's chest plate, exploring the burns and singed areas the didn't manage to penetrate. "You ran into trouble," he stated.

Keith managed to peek out from one eye. "V-voltron."

_Damn,_ Umbra's hand on Keith's chest unconsciously tightened into a fist. "Lux worked faster than I predicted."

"Umbra . . ." Keith caught his attention again.

"Rest now," Umbra calmed, gently wiping the sweat from his brow.

"The Relic," Keith's trembling arms struggled to present it to him. He uncurled his fingers with visible effort and Umbra was enraptured the second he fully saw it.

So small, yet so powerful. The quintessence leaking from the small sphere was enough to energize the whole room. The power it held was unquantifiable . . . But it wasn't enough on its own.

"You've done well," Umbra praised, his gaze captured by the Relic's allure.

Keith's arm shook as his strength began to fail and Umbra caught his trembling hand, cradling it between his own. He relished in the power that was now his.

Umbra returned the Relic to Keith's chest as the boy sighed deep and exhausted. Keith finally gave into sleep. Umbra gently slipped his arms under his apprentice and effortlessly lifted him off the ground.

So small, the boy was. Umbra still finds it amazing that one his size could hold so many conflicting emotions. His previous apprentice 10 000 deca-phoebes ago was the same way, but it was what made them perfect for the job.

Umbra carried Keith the few steps to the table opposite of his brother, laying him down and smoothing out the hair from his face.

Once he was positioned the table lit up with the same rejuvenating light that sustained his brother's body. It wouldn't heal his breaking soul, but it would patch him up enough to continue his mission.

"The things creatures will do for love," Umbra said to the twin orbs that floated around him. "Fools, every single one of them."

It was then that Umbra took the Fire Relic from Keith's limp fingers and turned to one of the five pillars that surrounded the alter.

He took a moment of indulgence as he released the binding. He let the power of pure elemental Fire flood through the room and he _basked _in it. It was something he hadn't felt in far too long.

The room flooded with red light.

**Oo-oO**

Pidge was once again the last one to arrive on the bridge for the team's debriefing. After thanking the Shah in the Tom's Village, they returned back with dejected faces and an obvious lack of Relic in their possession.

Hunk was the one to break the silence. "Well that was a complete and utter disaster."

"That's putting it lightly," Allura slumped against the control panel, the failure clearly written on her face. "We didn't anticipate a run-in with this Umbra character so soon."

"That boy was not Umbra."

Everyone jumped at Lux's sudden appearance out of, literally, thin air.

"And where have _you_ been?" Pidge asked.

"Where the light shines, I see," Lux said. "Where the light learns, I know. I've been watching, waiting," she turned to Pidge with a carefully blank expression, "Learning."

"Really," Pidge deadpanned. She'd heard it before.

"More importantly," Shiro cut in, reading Pidge's annoyance (totally not her fault), "If the guy we ran into wasn't Umbra, who is he?"

"His apprentice," Lux answered easily. "Being what I am, I cannot interfere directly in the universe's business. This is the reason I have sought you out, to act in my stead without disrupting the balance of the universe. Umbra, having taken on the properties of the Darkness, is under the same restrictions. So he has also found an agent to act in his stead."

"An apprentice who uses magic," Egal said bitterly. Everyone turned towards Egal, as it wasn't often that the new Red Paladin spoke up. "Magic that can paralyze a person where they stand. That can manipulate the flow of life energy . . . that can make a person disappear into nothingness."

"It was nothing like Altean alchemy," Allura added. "It didn't adhere to the natural movement of quintessence, instead it . . . it . . ."

"It enslaves it," Lux finished, speaking the words Allura was struggling to find. "That is a corrupted version of Tenebris' magic. It uses the host body as a type of conduit and manipulates quintessence into ways it's not meant to be used."

"Impossible," Coran cut in, "Using one's body like that, it—why, it would destroy the caster!"

Allura nodded in agreement.

"Well," Hunk fidgeted. "The guy _did_ seem to be in a lot of pain whenever he was using it."

"Quintessence in those quantities flowing freely through a living body won't destroy them right away," Lux explained with a hint of sadness, like she's seen it happen too many times. "But it will chip away at their very essence. Little by little, fragments of their own quintessence, their soul, are swallowed up into the greater flow passing through them and back into the universe. The technique if powerful, yes, but extremely self-destructive."

"How horrible," Allura covered her mouth.**  
** "Well," Shiro broke the silence, "now we know what we're up against. We can prepare for future encounters with this Apprentice. Coran, where's the next Relic located?"

"Right-O," Coran spun on his heel and brought up the map. The mark where the Fire Relic once sat was faded and grey while the others still shone brightly.

"Looks like the Earth and Water Relics are relatively closer to each other. We should head to that quadrant of space next."

"If we split up and go after both Relics at the same time, the Apprentice can't be in two places at once," Pidge suggested.

"Good idea Pidge," Shiro praised.

"Awesome!" Hunk explaimed, then his face fell with a thought. "Wait," he turned to Lux, "He can't be in two places at once . . . can he?" Hunk squeaked.

"The abilities passed down from Tenebris are a mysterious thing," Lux mused with a sad smile on her face. "But take comfort in knowing that Umbra can only ever take on one apprentice at a time . . . last time though, only one apprentice was all that he needed."

"I thought you guys won last time," Pidge commented from where she absentmindedly scrolled through her screen. She had the distinct impression that the Guardian of Light wasn't telling them everything.

"We may have succeeded in banishing Umbra, yes . . ." Lux trailed off, her gaze going distant, seeing something from millennia past. "But our victory came at a great cost. And for what? All our efforts and lives spent, only for the cycle to repeat 10 000 deca-phoebes later. I would hardly say that we won back then . . . only delayed the true fight."

**Oo-oO**

Keith was falling through galaxies and nebular and soaring past stars and super nova. Exploring the space of the Astral Plane that he had become intimately familiar with over the last few months. So familiar that he found himself here without even meaning to.

Keith wasn't falling anymore.

In front of him was the fragmented soul he's tried so desperately to reassemble, so that maybe . . . _maybe_, he might be able to understand. So that he might be able to apologize. . . Might be able to fix everything. Make it all right. Piece together this soul that shouldn't have shattered into so many tiny pieces.

"Lance," he called out. The fragments shifting around him. "What happened?"

He reached out, searching for answers, but only grasped at a memory.

**. . .**

_He'd followed as Lance led the way out of the bar and away to the side of a crater that had a great view the bland grey rock of the moon. Keith had finally found Lance. Now he just had to convince him to come back._

_ "How'd you find me?" Lance asked. He removed the fancy blue half mask and Keith took note of the spots where it had smudged at his black face paint. It hadn't been enough to fool Keith though. _

_ "Well, there aren't many Altean pods on the market anymore, what with them all being destroyed ten thousand years ago," Keith answered blandly. Lance cringed and Keith continued. "It took a lot of foot work, but I eventually found the one you took from the Castle, tracked down the guy you sold it to, then found the guy you bought your new ship from, threatened him with bodily harm until he told me what I wanted, then it was absolute hell tracking down every ship with the same model until finally, I found one that had pinged a checkpoint that was heading to the most decrepit, isolated place in the universe. How's that for detective work."_

_ "Sound like a waste of time," Lance muttered and brought his knees up to his chest._

_ "_Lance_," Keith huffed in annoyance. _

_ "I'm serious Keith, you shouldn't have bothered. This is for the best. I just cause more harm than good. So, hurry up and go back to everyone. They'll be happy to see you. I know Shiro's been missing you. He won't admit it, but he does. I can see it."_

_ Keith met Lance's forced smile with hard eyes that pierced through the mask Lance was trying to hide behind. It wasn't a physical mask, but a mask none the less. _

_ "I don't buy it," Keith said with a scowl. "_You_ are the Red Paladin now, Lance. You're the only one who can do it. And you're wrong. About everything. The team needs you—" _

_ "Keith, you don't understand," Lance pleaded, "I—You don't know what happened! How badly I screwed up this time. I'm not—I can't go back. You belong on the team more than I do. They're stronger with you and I—I just drag everyone down."_

_ "That's not true!"_

_ "You can't change my mind Keith," Lance stood and slid his blue half mask back into place. Hiding again. _

_ "Well I'm not leaving without you," Keith follows as Lance stalks back toward the bar and catches him by the arm. He pulls him to a stop and tries again. "What are you gonna do? Be a bartender on some backwater moon in the middle of nowhere the rest of your life? You're just gonna abandon everyone for—for this?!"_

_ "I'm not abandoning anyone! You're the one who left, Keith!"_

_ "Yeah. To fight Zarkon! Not to work at a sketchy bar and flirt with girls all day! You're better than this, Lance!"_

_ "No," Lance jerked his arm out of Keith's hold. "I'm really not."_

**. . .**

Lance's words echo in Keith's head as he woke up.

_I'm really not_.

They hit him hard, just like the first time he heard them. They have him hunching over himself and pulling at his hair as he wonders . . . what could have happened? How long did Lance feel like this? Why did he run away?

What really happened?

These are the questions Keith has been beating himself up over, screaming into the void, over and over again with no answers. No closer to the truth. Nothing. Just . . . silence.

Keith heaves a sigh and turns his head to the ceiling. No use letting his thoughts rile him up again. He has his objective and he's one step closer to achieving his goal.

He notices for the first time since waking that the usually dark and dreary alter room is bathed in a red glow. It wasn't enough to chase all the shadows away, but Keith let his eyes trace the glowing lines along the dais until he reached the top left pedestal where the Relic of Fire sat in all its glory. Then all the memories about how it came to be here came rushing back.

The mountain. The Guardians. The new Red Paladin. The _Team_. They . . . they were on opposite sides. This time . . . they were enemies. They—they probably had no idea what happened. That Lance—

"Keith," the quiet, melodic voice shattered his careening thoughts and although the voice was gentle and questioning, Keith felt his body tense up in familiar anger.

"Did you know?" Keith's voice was low and raspy from disuse. He didn't bother turning to face his mentor.

"Did I know what?" Umbra questioned back, and Keith felt his nails bite into the palms of his hands as he played stupid.

"You know _damn well,_" Keith snarled, still refusing to look at him.

Umbra hummed appreciatively. "If you are referring to the presence of Voltron, then no. At least, not for sure."

"But you suspected."

"The Paladin's of Voltron were chosen as the Emissaries of Lux in our conflict ten thousand deca-phoebes ago, yes. It only makes sense that she would go back to them again. I was unaware, however, that she had already made contact. And I hate to say that they do have an advantage over us this time around, seeing as how the Paladins were the ones who hid the Relics in the past. They more than likely retain a record of those locations."

"Did you know they found a new Paladin?"

"Didn't you?" Umbra said from under his unmoving mask. "It only makes sense that they would find a replacement. If they didn't, well, I would fear for the well-being of the universe if I cared for it."

Keith huffed, frustrated by the lack of a straight answer. "Right."

He slid from the table and moved to stretch—he immediately regretted it. He cried out, one hand clutching at pain flaring in his chest while the other catches himself from falling on the table.

"Careful," Umbra rushes to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder and lowering him to the ground. "You've overexerted your soul."

Keith grit his teeth as the tearing slowly ebbed into a dull throb. "Is it gonna hurt this much every time?" Keith suddenly felt small.

Umbra lowered his gaze and gently took Keith's hand that was still clutching at his chest. He couldn't help the small bubble of feeling that simmered for the boy. "As your soul scars, the pain will lessen. It will become accustomed to the abuse until eventually, you won't fell anything at all."

"You mean until I have no soul left to corrupt," Keith corrected bitterly and removed his hand from Umbra's grasp. He struggled to his feet and swayed a moment as he caught his breath. Then he stood straight and strong, as if his soul wasn't slowly being ripped apart, as if he wasn't fighting against his only friends in the universe . . . as if one of those precious friends wasn't lying lifeless right in front of him.

Umbra answered with silence.

"There's only two soul fragments left to collect," Keith stated. "I think it's well past the time that I should retrieve them."

"Are you certain?" Umbra lingered, watching Keith's expression carefully.

Keith took a step and laid a hand on Lance's pod. "I've left him broken for too long because I was afraid to face my team. The last pieces are on the Castle of Lions, guarded by the Red and Blue Lions themselves . . . the Lions that _he_ piloted. Now that it's inevitable that I'll be seeing them again, I might as well get it over with."

"Will you explain yourself to them?"

Keith fought to keep his hands steady. "It's easier if they think they're just fighting against a faceless stranger."

Umbra hummed in approval. "Will you at least rest before departing."

"Have you located the next Relic?"

"Not yet."

"Then I'll rest when I get back, while you search."

"As you wish," Umbra conceded. He held his hand out to Keith who complied and presented the Portal Generator on his wrist. It allows him to teleport anywhere in the universe that Umbra chooses to send him and he could only return here. Keith knew it was a leash of sorts, making sure Keith could only return to Umbra. It was a leash that he willingly put on.

"Focus on your connection to the Black Lion," Umbra counselled. "You are no longer her Paladin, but your bond still remains. It may be extremely weak after all these phoebes, but it is enough."

Keith closed his eyes and did as he was told. He reached over Galaxies, chasing the feeling he once reveled in, the connection to something greater than he was. He could still feel the frail, thin string that still connected him to the Black Lion, and even weaker still to the Red Lion. Then he felt Umbra intruding in on their connection, pinpointing their location in space and imbuing the coordinates it in the Portal Generator.

Before the Castle could change locations, Keith opened the portal. It snapped into existence, swirling black and infinite.

"Are you sure you're ready for this," Umbra asked one last time. His grip still strong on Keith's wrist.

"Like I said, I've waited too long as it is."

"Just," Umbra squeezed one last time before releasing him. "Be cautious. The Lions possess strong spirits and will be loathe to give up anything to the darkness."

"I'll convince them," Keith wasn't worried about the Lions . . . well, maybe he was a little worried, but he was more concerned about running into one of the others.

Before he could let his thoughts take off again, his mask closed over his face and he fell through the portal.


End file.
